Featured song:
"Immortals" by Fall Out Boy, from Big Hero 6
Qui-Gon took two buses and then got into a speeder he was scheduled to board to a secret location. He wore a black hood to conceal his identity the whole way, carrying a special burner phone that let him know each new drop off space and that would let him know when he reached the final destination.
The speeder landed at a port, where Qui-Gon then boarded another and traveled to another world. Finally, he walked for about half an hour before coming to what looked like an abandoned office building.
Qui-Gon kept his hood up as he walked around to the back of the building, and found a door and knocked the secret knock he was taught.
A small slot was opened.
A voice whispered, "The hero flies at midnight."
That was the signal for a key word all supers summoned had to speak in order to enter.
"But a true hero does not fly solo." Qui-Gon whispered back.
The door was opened, and Qui-Gon walked in to be taken to an elevator that took him down to the basement. While he was in the elevator, he donned his mask and removed the hood and trench coat he wore over his super suit, and when he arrived, he was met by none other than Blue Monarch and Gizmo Girl.
"Welcome, Captain Hardwear." Mariposa said. "We are so glad you could make it."
"Pleased to meet you in person, Blue Monarch. And Gizmo Girl... it's been so long." Qui-Gon said, feeling guilty.
"Ten years," said Gizmo Girl. "I don't blame you, Captain. My parents didn't believe it when the police told them you saw potential in me, but I held onto your words for years. Someone decided to exploit my gifts for her own gain, but now I have a chance to be a hero and help stop her."
"Come along now," said Blue Monarch. "The others will want to meet you as well."
The two heroes and aspiring hero-to-be walked to what looked like two sealed doors. Gizmo girl approached a scanner that scanned her hand, her eye, and had her spit into a cup to scan DNA. A green light flashed for clearance, and the doors opened to reveal what looked like a highly advanced laboratory of supercomputers and gizmos. And in the middle of it all was a round table where several former supers were gathered in their old supersuits, and some Qui-Gon didn't recognize.
Qui-Gon was astonished by the lab too.
"You like it? Designed and built all this myself." Gizmo Girl said. "Not to brag."
"I believe proper introductions are in order." Blue Monarch said.
Sure enough, many heroes Cpt. Hardwear knew from the glory days were present. Dr. Healix, Resistor, Storm Surfer, Tracker (Quinlan Vos), and Blue Tigress (Aayla Secura) were the ones he recognized, but one new face, or so he thought, was a human male in a suit of black and green tiger print that had a logo of two W's and a tiger print on the chest. The beard also made him hard to recognize.
"Long time no see, old mentor." said the man.
"Wild Whisperer?" Qui-Gon gasped. "Is that really you?"
Wild Whisperer lifted his mask and smiled at his old mentor.
"In the flesh." Obi-Wan smiled.
The two old friends hugged each other, Obi-Wan gasping for a moment as Qui-Gon accidentally squeezed a little too hard this time, like he sometimes did when he was excited. Thankfully, not enough to break any bones.
"Oh! Sorry!"
"Still super strong as ever, I see." Wild Whisper breathed, and took a good look at Cpt. Hardwear. "And I see you've managed to stay in shape."
"It wasn't easy, now that I have two boys, and my daughter is in high school now."
Just then, in came Weather Man, out of breath.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Weather Man said.
"I was beginning to to think you were standing us up." Gizmo Girl said. "What kept you?"
"Well..."
A few hours ago...
It was just another day at the Windu family's apartment suite in the city. They lived pretty luxuriously, and on this very night, it was family dinner night.
Mace was just getting ready to join his family when he heard a knock on the door. And when he answered, there was a package. Inside was an R6 droid, and it gave him a message that shared with him the news that Mariverde was very real, and she was reeking havoc, and planning to spread it across the Galaxy.
So, Mace got out a little remote to open a secret compartment where he kept an outfit he thought he would never wear again. Except... it wasn't there.
"Brenda?" Mace called.
"Yes, Honey?" Brenda called from the kitchen.
"Where's my super suit?"
"What?"
Where is my super suit?" Mace asked a little louder, then started to look for his suit himself.
"I...uh, put it away."
"Where?!" Mace started digging through the closet.
"Why do you need to know?"
"I need it! Kids! Help me find my suit."
"Nuh-uh. Don't you think about going to do any daring do. We've been planning this dinner for two months."
"The galaxy's in danger."
"My evening's in danger."
"Tell me where my suit is woman! We are talking about the greater good."
"Greater good? I am your wife. Me and the kids are the greatest good you're ever gonna get."
Mace rolled his eyes. His wife could be really stubborn when she wanted to be.
"I found it!" Myra called, and she brought the suit to her father. "Mom hid it in the storage room."
"I should've guessed." Mace said.
Of course, Brenda still objected to Mace just dropping Family Dinner Night to do illegal hero work.
"Mace Ashley Windu, you better tell me what the meaning of this is right now!" Brenda said.
"I don't have time to explain, Dear. All I can say is that the safety of our family and every family in the galaxy hangs in the balance, and we need every hero we can spare."
"Dad, can't I come?" Myra asked.
"No, Myra. This is experienced heroes' work."
And with that, he kissed his wife, and bid the family farewellfor what he hoped wouldn't be the last time.
Present Day...
"In short, family stuff." Mace said.
"Alright, now that we're all here, let's get down to business." Blue Monarch said.
Gizmo Girl typed some things into a keyboard on the table and pulled up a holographic projection of what looked like blue prints to several giant robots and multiple inventions initially intended for good purposes.
According to Gizmo Girl, she'd invented these specially amazing machines:
-Protego-Droids, indestructible bodyguard droids programmed with artificial intelligence so to adapt to various enemies and attacks in order to protect its charge as well as a charge's loved ones.
-The Mind Changer, a psychological device that worked kind of like hypnosis. It looked like a pair of headphones with a screen attached, and it was built to be used for various therapy sessions, most often to teach sympathy, and sometimes to help people get out of addictions and bad habits through positive reinforcement and motivational speeches.
But one of the trickiest...
-The Bio-Dome, a special dome that could cover an entire island while still allowing sunshine in and creating moisture that would allow enough rain to keep the vegetation and the inhabitants hydrated. This was originally built to preserve wildlife areas to help repopulate endangered species and protect them from mankind without disturbing their natural ecosystems.
"But... Mariverde stole my inventions, and twisted them for her own evil purposes." Gizmo Girl then switched to videos of what Mariverde transformed the inventions into.
The Protego Droids became destroyer droids that could take out any enemy by learning their every move, their weaknesses, and how to calculate possible future attacks, the Mind-Changer became an enslavement device Mariverde used to spread mariclavas onto more unwilling candidates, and the Bio-Dome... she was using that to keep her prisoners trapped in a bubble of intense heat or extreme cold. Basically, that last one, she created all kinds of weather patterns to torture her victims she either couldn't or wouldn't clavatize for whatever twisted reason she had. But to make matters worse, she managed to have her cronies make a gigantic version combining all three of those inventions, making one that looked like a giant metal octopus or something that grabbed people to force Mind-Changers on them, place a protective bio-bubble around itself, or trap its opponent with it. Mariverde called it... the Omnidroid.
"Luckily, Mariverde forgot about something. Each invention has its own weaknesses, but given that most of these inventions have artificial intelligence, I have at least one that doesn't. When I created these inventions, I also developed a program that could override every single one of their emergency stop control chips, which only I can identify. I disguised each of them as an essential part in every invention and made each one different so only I could disable them if ever they should go rogue in any way."
"Why haven't you unleashed the program then?" Tracker asked.
"Because Mariverde has the central computer, the one computer I couldn't erase, that creates the right frequency in her custody, and getting into her fortress is not something anyone has ever attempted to do on purpose, and I never got full training with villains as dangerous as her, nor do I know her fortress that well. Essentially, I'd be going in blindly if I tried on my own. And seeing as only I know the codes to unlock the computer and activate the frequency, I require assistance."
"If the computer can stop the droids," said Captain Hardwear. "Wouldn't Marivere have destroyed it by now?"
"No. Because that computer also holds the plans for other machines she's desperate to get her paws on, as well as the old files that hold the secret identities of every single hero in exile and the locations they moved to, which we can't let her get. I was entrusted with such information because I wanted nothing more than to be a hero, and if protecting former heroes was the next best thing, I was more than willing to take it, and I'm willing to make every sacrifice to keep that information protected."
Now the heroes definitely were worried; if Mariverde found out their secret identities, that could put their families in danger for sure!
"That's why we need every hero we can get." said Gizmo Girl. "Mariverde's ultimate plan is set to go off in one year's time, which isn't a lot of time to figure out how to get into her fortress, and we may need to work another step in less than that."
"What other step?" Obi-Wan asked.
"All of us have been out of the field of hero work for years," said Blue Monarch. "Which means, chances are we may be rusty. Therefore..."
Blue Monarch opened another door, which showed a whole training course and another computer with various simulation options on it.
"It's time to go back to school, everyone."
"Since the old training facilities are obviously gone," said Gizmo Girl. "We're gonna use an updated, upgraded method of training."
Mariposa put her hand out. "Who's ready to be a hero again?"
Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Wild Whisperer stood up and put his hand on Blue Monarch's.
"I am." said the former sidekick.
"I'm in." Storm Surfer placed a hand on his wife's.
"Me too." Dr. Healix joined in.
"As am I." Resistor said.
Every hero in the room soon put their hand in... except Captain Hardwear.
Inside, Qui-Gon knew his wife probably wouldn't be too happy about him illegally doing hero work, but he also knew that if he didn't, his family, and every family in the galaxy would never know a day of peace again.
And so, Captain Hardwear put his hand in.
"Fantastical forces are we..." Blue Monarch began.
"Against all evil, we fight as a team!" All the heroes said together.
And so, training officially began.
As expected, many of these various heroes were a bit out of practice, even with the jobs that blended in with some of their abilities. Weather Man's weather making was a little rusty, Resistor hadn't flown in quite some time, Storm Surfer needed to fix his game surfing in more dangerous waters, and Captain Hardwear, to put it simply, the heaviest thing he'd lifted since heroes were criminalized was his wife and his children, and sometimes heavy packages that didn't usually weigh more than thirty pounds, which was like lifting a feather to him. Even Blue Monarch and Dr. Healix needed to retrain themselves to fly or scan for medical needs and heal.
They say we are what we are, but we don't have to be
I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way
Using various simulations, Gizmo Girl threw various scenarios for the heroes to practice with, as well as found remote locations they could practice back home. Despite the severity of this mission, the heroes needed to keep this as discreet from their families as possible in order to ensure their safety.
I'll be the watcher (watcher) of the eternal flame
I'll be the guard dog of all your fever dreams
Reluctantly, Qui-Gon and a few other heroes had to lie to their spouses that they were going away on business whenever they were training in order to avoid drawing suspicion.
Oh, I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass, glass, glass
Oh, I try to picture me without you, but I can't
Qui-Gon began intensifying his training by pulling and lifting abandoned train cars at a junkyard of what used to be a delivery train track. He started out lifting old crates before moving on to lifting the trains and speeders themselves with both hands, eventually moving on to one.
Obi-Wan continued practicing his animal whispering at his job in the veterinary clinic, Blue Tigress used the police training course after hours to sharpen her agility and jumping abilities for sneak attacks, and Resistor practiced his flying closer to the desert and countryside where he knew most sightings of anything odd in the sky were usually dismissed as conspiracy or made-up close encounters from attention seekers.
Gizmo Girl eventually brought in her sister Clarissa, who now gave herself a new hero name, Queen of Heart, to join in on the action.
'Cause we could be immortals, immortals
Just not for long, for long
And live with me forever now, pull the blackout curtains down
Just not for long, for long
We could be immor—immortals, immor—immortals
Immor—immortals, immor—immortals, immortals
Training came easy for the heroes, compared to how it was to hide the truth from their families. Still, they worked very hard and did their best to still be parents and spouses. Turned out, Qui-Gon and his two closest friends weren't the only ones to find that hero work came in many forms, including without superpowers.
Sometimes the only payoff for having any faith
Is when it's tested again and again every day
I'm still comparing your past to my future
It might be your wound, but they're my sutures
Oh, I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass, glass, glass
Oh, I try to picture me without you, but I can't
'Cause we could be immortals, immortals
Just not for long, for long
And live with me forever now, pull the blackout curtains down
Just not for long, for long
Little by little, the heroes started to get stronger, faster, swifter, and started to feel like they did back in the glory days. Not only that, but they were getting into better shape than ever, which Qui-Gon told Shmi was from a new job he got as a private trainer/physical therapist who did house calls. Of course, his children questioned this job sometimes, but he told them, "Don't worry children. Daddy is looking out for this family, and always will."
We could be immor—immortals, immor—immortals, immortals
And live with me forever now
Pull the blackout curtains down
We could be immortals, immortals
Just not for long, for long
By and by, nearly the whole year had passed. Only two months left until Mariverde's ultimate plan was to be launched.
Eventually, the heroes all fought in one big simulation together in which Gizmo Girl programmed a scenario of them fighting her inventions, and sure enough, the heroes' powers were stronger than ever. They managed to dodge nearly every blow, worked together to defeat the machines, and had each other's backs the whole way.
We could be immor—immortals, immor—immortals
Immor—immortals, immor—immortals, immortals
"They're ready." Gizmo Girl declared, holding her fist to her sister.
And Queen of Heart fist bumped her.
"Just like we always dreamed, huh?" said Queen of Heart.
"It will be once Mariverde is defeated." Gizmo Girl said.
Qui-Gon placed his super suit into a gym bag and began to head out to meet the others, when he felt two someones jump on him.
"Boys," said Qui-Gon, laughing.
"Will you be back soon, Daddy?" Carmine asked.
"I'm sure I will, Carmine. Now, Anakin, you and your brother be good while I'm gone, okay?"
Kara also came by. She looked worried. Her father had been going away a lot over the last year, and it seemed odd.
"Do you have to go?" Kara said sadly.
Qui-Gon held Kara's shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
"Yes, Dear. This is a critical mission I am taking. Now listen very carefully, take good care of your brothers and watch over your mother. I don't know how long I will be gone this time. So, I need you to be strong. There comes a time to be a hero, and that time for you is now."
"What's this about being heroes?" Shmi said, coming to give her husband something he almost left. "You left your phone on the bed, Sweetheart."
"Oh!" Qui-Gon took the phone and placed it in his bag. "Thank you, my love."
"Qui-Gon, I do have to second Kara's concerns." Shmi said. "You've been away a lot more over the last year."
"I know, Dear. I'm sorry I haven't been around as much as either of us would like. Rest assured, however, I'm doing this for the greater good, and this will be the last time I am away for a long time."
"How exactly?' Anakin asked. "Are you training someone rich and powerful or something? Or a famous athlete?"
"I suppose you could say I am going to endure a more intense workout than I've done in a while. For the time being, I will need all of you to be heroes. I love every single one of you, and want what's best for this family."
Qui-Gon got all of his children to join him in a group hug and gave them each a kiss. He saved the warmest hug and the most passionate kiss for his beloved wife.
"I love you, Shmi." Qui-Gon said, kissing his wife more. "My love for you is stronger than any force any number of heroes combined could bring."
"I love you too, Qui-Gon." Shmi said, kissing her husband once more before they reluctantly pulled away.
With a sigh, Qui-Gon scratched Artoo's ears and bid his family farewell before heading out the door for what would perhaps be the greatest fight of his entire life!
